NBA Live 07 Picks Cover Athletes

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Five players will be splitting up the world.

By IGN Staff

Electronic Arts announced its starting lineup of NBA stars today at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany by selecting the Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki, Memphis Grizzlies' Pau Gasol, San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker, and Phoenix Suns' Boris Diaw to join the Houston Rockets' Tracy McGrady on the NBA Live 07 All-Star team as worldwide cover athletes and spokespersons.

NBA Live 07 will feature Nowitzki on all packaging in his native Germany, Gasol in Spain, and Parker and Diaw sharing the cover spotlight in France. McGrady will be the cover athlete in North America and all other countries.

To celebrate the talents of the top NBA players from Europe, EA Sports will provide users the opportunity to play as the European All-Stars in NBA LIVE 07. The team will wear special jerseys and be comprised of Nowitzki, Parker, Gasol, Diaw, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Peja Stojakovic, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, Hedo Turkoglu, Vladimir Radmanovic, Andrea Bargnani, Mickael Pietrus, Sasha Vujacic, Beno Udrih, and Nenad Krstic.

"With the global appeal of NBA Live it is important to us to assemble an All-Star team of international players who reflect our worldwide basketball franchise leadership," said Keith Munro, VP of Marketing for EA. "These players are superstars on their NBA teams and some of the best players in the world. We believe they truly represent the authenticity and entertainment that NBA Live 07 delivers."

Nowitzki is fresh off leading the Mavericks' franchise to their first trip to The Finals. During the regular season Nowitzki averaged a career-high 26.6 points a game, while also registering 9.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists. A five-time NBA All-Star, Nowitzki was named All-NBA First Team for the second consecutive season.

Gasol is coming off his most successful season in the NBA where he led the Memphis Grizzlies in scoring with a career-high 20.4 points a game, while also registering 8.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He was selected an NBA All-Star for the first time in 2006. The native of Catalonia, a Spanish coastal region, and former NBA Rookie of the Year played for Spain in the 2004 Olympics.

Parker has helped lead the San Antonio Spurs to two NBA Championships and appeared in more playoff games before his 24th birthday than any player in NBA history. In 2005-06, Parker had a career season, averaging 18.9 points while shooting better than 50 percent from the field. He finished among the league leaders in assists (5.8 apg) and was named an All-Star for the first time.

Suns' third-year forward Diaw will make his debut on the cover of NBA Live 07 alongside Parker in France. An up-and-coming young star, Diaw came of age this season, averaging career highs in points (13.3), rebounds (6.9) and assists (6.2) and was selected the NBA's Most Improved Player. During the playoffs Diaw elevated his game, averaging 18.7 points, as the Suns advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

A two-time NBA scoring champion and six-time NBA All-Star, McGrady led the league in scoring by averaging 32.1 points per game in 2003, when he became the youngest NBA player to average 30-plus points per game since Bob McAdoo in 1974-75 and has remained one of the game's most popular and entertaining players. McGrady finished 12th in NBA scoring (24.4 ppg) this year and averaged 6.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. It was the sixth time in his career he has scored more than 24 points a game.

Developed in Vancouver, B.C., by EA Canada, NBA Live 07 will be available on the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PSP, mobile, and PC on September 25. It is scheduled for release on the PlayStation 3 in November.